5.2. Publish-Subscribe Channel

Overview

A publish-subscribe channel, shown in Figure 5.2, “Publish Subscribe Channel Pattern”, is a message channel that enables multiple subscribers to consume any given message. This is in contrast with a point-to-point channel. Publish-subscribe channels are frequently used as a means of broadcasting events or notifications to multiple subscribers.

Figure 5.2. Publish Subscribe Channel Pattern 

Components that support publish-subscribe channel

The following Apache Camel components support the publish-subscribe channel pattern:

JMS

ActiveMQ

XMPP

SEDA for working with SEDA in the same CamelContext which can work in pub-sub, but allowing multiple consumers.

VM as SEDA, but for use within the same JVM. 

JMS

In JMS, a publish-subscribe channel is represented by a topic. For example, you can specify the endpoint URI for a JMS topic called StockQuotes as follows:

jms:topic:StockQuotes

See for more details.

ActiveMQ

In ActiveMQ, a publish-subscribe channel is represented by a topic. For example, you can specify the endpoint URI for an ActiveMQ topic called StockQuotes, as follows:

activemq:topic:StockQuotes

See for more details.

XMPP

The XMPP (Jabber) component supports the publish-subscribe channel pattern when it is used in the group communication mode. See for more details.

Static subscription lists

If you prefer, you can also implement publish-subscribe logic within the Apache Camel application itself. A simple approach is to define a static subscription list, where the target endpoints are all explicitly listed at the end of the route. However, this approach is not as flexible as a JMS or ActiveMQ topic.

Java DSL example

The following Java DSL example shows how to simulate a publish-subscribe channel with a single publisher, seda:a, and three subscribers, seda:b, seda:c, and seda:d:

from("seda:a").to("seda:b", "seda:c", "seda:d");